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Students publish e-magazine to help peers

January 27, 2015

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Sixteen University of Wisconsin-Platteville students wrote, edited and published No Money, College Edition, an e-magazine designed to provide readers – UW-Platteville students – with information that helps them make budget-conscious decisions and get more value for their time and money. The magazine was published online Jan. 23.

The student writers/publishers were enrolled in the Magazine Editing and Writing course last fall, taught by Karen Pluemer, English lecturer at UW-Platteville.

“I had two goals with this semester-long assignment,” said Pluemer. “My first goal was to provide an opportunity for students to go through the entire submission process, from pitching to writing to editorial feedback to revising to layout to publication. My second goal was to provide a publication that would benefit the student experience overall at UW-Platteville – it’s helpful to learn how to save money.”

Throughout the semester, students pitched ideas, wrote feature articles, incorporated notes and revised submissions. Nine articles and a column regarding net neutrality were selected for publication.

Three students volunteered to serve as editors of the magazine: Connie Spyropoulos, a senior English education major from Bartlett, Ill.; Megan Woolcock, a senior professional writing major from Lake Carroll, Ill; and Jeremy Williamson, a senior communications major from East Troy, Wis. The students were assigned articles to edit and layout using Joomag, a free online e-magazine service.

“Working on this magazine taught me a lot about writing, editing and designing an appealing and professional product,” said Spyropoulos. “I’m excited to share the information that I learned in this class with my future students because it’s important for them to know what good writing looks like and that there are a lot of ways for them to share and publish their writing. Exposing students to magazine writing can open their eyes to the possibility of having a fun and successful career in writing and publishing. Editing No Money magazine was a lot of fun and I’m happy to have had this experience.”

“Writing an article and helping page No Money magazine was amazing,” said Woolcock. “It gave me a much better idea of what goes into publishing, and having this experience is really going to help me succeed when I have the opportunity to be published again.”

“I learned the process of gathering stories, evaluating them, categorizing, accepting, utilizing, revising and composing them into a publishable piece of literature,” said Williamson. “This is a very important process for any future career and shows how successful works proceed and unsuccessful works fall out.”

As UW-Platteville pursues its vision of being recognized as the leading student-focused university for its success in achieving excellence, creating opportunities and empowering each individual, it is guided by four strategic planning priorities. The e-magazine project aligns with three of the priorities, including providing an outstanding education, fostering a community of achievement and respect and enriching the tri-state region.

Written by: Laurie Hamer, College of Liberal Arts and Education, 608-342-6191, hamerl@uwplatt.edu